Container closure and pouring attachment



Nov. 10, 1959 w. HENNY 2,912,146

CONTAINER CLOSURE AND POURING ATTACHMENT Filed May 20, 1957 I r roar/v5 M United States Patent CONTAINER CLOSURE AND POURING ATTACHMENT Willi Henny, Birmingham, Mich.

Application May 20, 1957, Serial No. 660,294

1 Claim. (Cl. 222-531) tainer attachment that is designed forattachment to the corner of a container and that is operable to form an opening in a thin-walled container and thereafter provide a hinged pouring spout for. the container.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a container closure and pouring attachment that has a hinged portion that can be latched in either a' closed position sealing a container opening or in an open position where the closure member provides a pouring spout for the container.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a combination closure member and pouring spout attachment for thin-walled containers that leans itself to fabrication from a pair of die-formed pieces that can bereadily snapped into an assembled relationship.

It is still another object of this invention to provide a combination closure member. and pouring spout that is simple in construction, economical to manufacture and a definite advancement over similar devices heretoforeavailable to the public. Y

It is still another object of this invention to provide a pouring means adapted to be removably engaged about the corner of two right-angularly related faces or walls of a container with the spout portions movable between open and closed positions. I

Other objects and advantages of this invention will become readily apparent from a reading of the following description and consideration of the related drawings wherein:

Fig. 1 is a front end elevational view of the container attachment embodying this invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view looking in the direction of the arrows 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational view taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is an exploded view of the two parts that are shown'assembled in Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view, with parts broken away and shown in section, of a modified form of this invention;

Fig. 6 is a sectional elevational view taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 5; and

Fig. 7 is a fragmentary sectional elevational view taken along the line 77 of Fig. 6.

Figs. 1-4 of the drawings show a combination closure member and pouring spout S that is adapted to be inserted through an opening in the wall of a container C and secured in place by means of a spring type connector clip 17. The combination closure member and 2,912,146 feten N 10,

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- 2 pouring spout Sis formed from a pair of hingedly eon: nected, subsequently described members 11 and 12 (see Fig. '4). Plastic, metal or any combination thereof can provide suitable materials from which the pair of hinged ly connected members may be fabricated.

Member 11 can be considered the body member and it somewhat resembles in shape the body portion of a scoop. From Fig. 4 it will be noted that the top wall 13 of the. body member 11 has a large rectangularly shaped opening 14 formed therein that is adapted to be covered and. uncovered by the hingedly mounted cover member 12. The top wall 13 of the'body member 11 may also have a pair of upwardly projecting spaced apart, parallel, ribs 15 that rigidify the body member top wall and define the sides of the discharge opening 14. Ribs 15 also engage the sides of the cover member 12 and guide the hinging movement of the cover member 12 as will be subsequently explained.

The front wall 16 of the body member 11 has a finger portion 17 cut therefrom thatis shaped to provide a spring clip for attaching the body member 11 to a'container Cor the like- The free lower end of this finger portion 17 is angled to provide a cam "portion that will guide the spring clip 17 over an edge of the associated container wall as the body member 11 is being applied to 'a container.

The'side walls 21 and 22 of the body member 11 are flat, substantially triangularly shaped, walls with the wall 21 beingsomewhat smaller in this case than the wall 22. However, the sidewalls 21 and 22 could be of the same or differing sizes and shapes without departing from the teachings of this invention. Because of the ditference inj size of the side walls,2l,'22 the front wall 16, that con} nects the'sidewa1ls'21, 22, has a sloping lower edge 23. This sloping edge 23 is an advantage because it facilitates the cutting or shearing function of this edge when the body member 11 is forced through the wall portion of a container The edge 23 at the bottom of the front wall 16, as well as the lower end angled edges 25 of the side walls 21 and 22, are preferably beveled to facilitate their cutting function. Adjacent the upper front corner of each of the'side walls 21 and 22 there is formeda pivot opening 27 to receive the hingepins 37 of the cover member 12 that is hereafter described.

The cover member 12 comprises a top wall 31 that has an angled tail portion 32 and a semi cylindrical front portion 33 that terminates in a front edge 34. Depending from the top wall 31 of the cover 12 are a pair of spaced apart side walls 36 that are each substantially a quadrant of a circle. Formed integrally with each side wall 36 is an outwardly projecting pivot pin 37. Each side wall 36 is slotted as at 38 so that the portion of the side wall 36 carrying the pivot pin 37. is sufliciently flexible to permit it to be temporarily deformed. Deformation of walls 36 permits snapping of the cover member pivot pins 37 into the pivot pin openings 27 in the body member side walls 21, 22. With the pins 37 in the openings 27 the cover member 12 is hingedly connected to the body member 11 so that the cover member can be moved from its closed, full-line, position in Fig. 3 to its open, broken-line, position also shown in Fig. 3.

When the cover member 12 is in its open position it provides a large unobstructed pouring spout that oan'be. used to accurately and quickly discharge the contents of any container'C to which this combination closure member and pouring spout S is attached. When the cover member 12 is in its closed position the opening 14 in the top wall 13 of the body member 11 is completely sealed olf by the cover member top wall 31 so that the contents of container C can not spill from the container even if the container C should tip over. The semi-cylindrical end portion 33 of the cover member 12 is so shaped and sized that there is a slight built-in interference between its front edge 34 and the top edge 19 of the body member end wall 16. This interference can be permitted because of the inherent flexibility of the front curved portion 33 of the cover member 12. Such interference provides an easy method of latching the cover member pouring spout in either its open or its closed position. The tail portion 32 of the cover also has a step portion 60 that frictionally seats on the rear edge of the top opening 14,

It is thought to be obvious that it is merely necessary to press the body member lower end beveled edges 23, 25 against the top wall 50 of a container C and the sharp beveled edges will shear an opening in the top wall 50 of the container C that will matingly receive the body member 11. The spring finger 17 will clamp about the outside of the container end wall 51 so as to clamp wall 51 between the finger 17 and the body member end wall 16 (see Fig. 3). It will be noted that the top wall 13 of the body member 11 can be slightly wider than the container C so that the side edges 13a rest upon and overhang the top wall 50 of the container C.

While the beveled edges 23, 25 of the body member 11 can be used to shear an opening in the container top wall 50, still, it is quite possible that the container top walls can be perforated to provide a knock-out plug of the size to provide an opening to receive the body member 11. Also, in the alternative a hole could be torn or cut in the container top wall 50 of such a size as to .receive the body member 11 if it was not desired to use the body member 11 as a shearing tool. Under such circumstances it is not necessary to provide cutting edges along the lower ends of the body member side walls 16, 21 an d 22.

Fig. 5 and 6 show a modified form of the invention shown in Figures l-4. There are two prime differences between the Figs. 5 and 6 form of the invention and the Figs. 1-4 form o'f'the invention. First, in the Figs. 5 and 6 form a pivot shaft 45 is used to hingedly connect the cover member 12 to the body member 11'. Secondly, a positive type of friction latch means is used to anchor the cover member 12 to the body member 11 in each of its open and closed positions. From a consideration of Figs. 6 and 7 it will be noted that each of the side walls 36' of the cover member 12 has an integral projection 48 formed therein. Likewise, each of the side walls 21' and 22' of the body member 11 have a pair of recesses 58, 59 formed therein. The recesses 58 and 59 are each adapted to alternately receive a projection 48 depending on whether the cover member 12' is in its open or closed position. The mating projections and recesses 48 and 58, 59 provide a positive means for latching the pivotally mounted cover member in either its open or closed position.

All parts of the Figs. 5 and 6 form of this invention that are similar to the Figs. 1-4 form of this invention carry similar but primed reference numerals to facilitate comparison of the two forms of the invention.

I claim:

A combination pouring spout and closure for an opening in a container comprisin a body member adapted to be removably engaged about the corner of two right angularly related walls of a container, said body member comprising a top wall having a depending side and end wall, said top wall having an opening therein extending lengthwise thereof from the intersection of the top wall with the end wall and said end wall having a portion thereof offset therefrom to provide a spring clip to detachably engage an adjacent end wall of the container on which the body member is adapted to be mounted, and a swingable cover member for the opening in said body member top wall providing a pouring spout for the opening in said body member top wall comprising a top side having connected, depending, side walls that provide a spout element, said cover member top side having one end thereof hingedly connected to the body member immediately adjacent the intersection of the body memher top and end walls, means on said cover member adjacent said hinged connection to the body member to restrict the degree of opening movement of the cover member to that required to provide the pouring spout for the body member opening, and means on said body member engageable with said cover member to latch said cover member in a position closing off the opening in the body member top wall.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Wallo Feb. 12, 1957 

